Robot Revolution: Myth or Reality [Point of View]

There has been much recent discussion in the popular press about robots and intelligent machines or programs taking jobs and creating unemployment on a massive scale. Looking at history, technological unemployment or workers being replaced by machines has been a problem for a long time. It would seem that because we have survived the invention of many paradigm-changing devices over many centuries, we will survive this latest one, but, maybe this time is different. This time the machines are autonomous. They are not just an extension of a human’s manual movements, like a steam engine, a sewing machine, or a grain reaper. They are an extension of the human’s mind and can make decisions without human guidance.